With the start of the basketball season of the college at the beginning of November, Inside the Hall takes a team-for-team to the Big Ten and a player-per player looks at the schedule of IU basketball in the next two months.
Today our team reviews will continue with Oregon.
Earlier: Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Northwestern, Washington, Nebraska, Maryland, Iowa, Wisconsin
Oregon’s first season in the Big ten was a success. The Ducks won 12 league matches, earned a number 5 seed and went on to the second round of the NCAA tournament 2025. Oregon lost a close game, 87-83, to former PAC-12-Vijand, Arizona, in Seattle.
Dana Altman returns various important pieces from last season’s team, but also lost several important contributors. De Ducks graduated Brandon Angel, TJ Bamba and Keeshawn Barthelemy and lost Jadrian Tracey (VCU) at the transfer portal.
Just like last season, this Oregon team will be built around the Point Guard Jackson Shelstad duo and Redshirt Senior Big Man Nate Bittle.
The 6-foot Shelstad is one of the best recurring lead protectors in the country. Known for making tough and clutch shots, Shelstad had an average of 13.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a stem in 32.9 minutes per game for the ducks. He shot 37.9 percent on 3S and 83.5 percent of the free throw line.
The 7-foot Bittle fought most of its career injuries, but remained healthy last season and was one of the most productive front court players of the Big ten. An Elite Shot -Blocker, Bittle finished second last season in the competition in block percentage. Just like Shelstad, he is an Elite Free Worp Shooter-81.1 percent and he led the ducks in scoring at 14.2 points per match. Bittle was also the leading rebounder of the team at 7.6 per match and shot 33.6 percent on 3S (107 attempts).
Search for 6-foot-9 Junior Kwame Evans Jr., a former McDonald’s All-American, to enter the starting line-up in his third season in Eugene. Evans is an excellent athlete and started most of his first -year season before he came off the bank last season in all three games. He shot 46.5 percent and on average 6.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per match last season.
Three transfer portal additions must play a prominent role in the rotation of Oregon.
Elon Transfer TK Simpkins, a 6-foot-4 senior, was a second team All-Colonial Athletic Association last season. He on average 16.4 points and shot 36.7 percent on 3S and should be able to grab part of the score production that were lost from the Bamba and Barthelemy diploma.
Transfer Devon Pryor in Texas entered the portal after the Rodney Terry program had rejected and is expected to play a more substantial role in Eugene. The 6-foot-7 wing played only 12.1 minutes per game for the Longhorns last season and had an average of 3.2 points and two rebounds per game.
And Ohio State Transfer Sean Stewart, a former McDonald’s All-American who started his career at Duke, arrives for the Buckeyes after starting 30 games last season. The 6-foot-9 stewart on average 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 18.4 minutes per match last season in the Big Ten while he shot 54.2 percent.
The Ducks hope that 6-foot-6 junior this Lindsay can remain healthy after he had missed an injury for the entire season 2024-25. Lindsay was considered one of the best Junior College wings after a few seasons in Florida Southwestern. In his second Juco season, Lindsay had an average of 16 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.7 Steals per match. He will offer wing and defense depth.
Other potential rotational pieces are 6-foot-7 Senior Oleksandr Kobzystyi, 6-foot-7 Red shirt Senior Miles Stewart, 6-foot-3 second-year student Jamari Phillips and 6-foot-5 First-year JJ Frakes.
Kobzystyi played in just two games last season, but played for the national team of Ukraine before he arrived in Oregon and on average 16.4 points.
Miles Stewart arrives from Howard, where he had an average of 3.5 points in 10.5 minutes per match but shot almost 60 percent.
Phillips was the number 48 player in the last 247sports composite rankings for the 2024 class, but played sparingly as a first -year student. There is an opening for Rotation Watch minutes of the bank and Oregon’s staff is hopeful that Phillips will take a step forward in his second season.
Frakes is probably a long -term development piece, but he had a solid senior season at Berrien Springs High School.
While Oregon turned a significant part of his selection in the low season, the return of Bittle and Shelstad should put the ducks in position to be back in the NCAA tournament next spring.
Bottom Line: The ducks have one of the most formidable duos of the Big Ten in Bittle and Shelstad and an excellent coach in Altman, who has Final Fours, Elite Eights and Sweet Sixteens about his CV. He would have to collect his 800th career victory this season. Oregon needs the Portaltrio of Simpkins, Pryor and Sean Stewart to perform and a Breakout season of Evans to reach its full potential this winter.
Sacrifice: “He is not afraid of the big moments. I would like to see his assist-to-turnover ratio a little better. He is working on it. He has become stronger in the last few years, so that will help him with sustainability and playing as many minutes as he can be.
See more: Comments, 2025-26 Big Ten Preview, Oregon Ducks
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